Seller listing standards
What every listing must contain, what may never appear in one, the terms you may add as a seller, and what happens when a listing falls short. Buyers trust what they read here because these standards hold.
Last updated August 24, 2026. These standards are part of our terms of service.
1. Describe the animal you are selling, accurately and completely
Every listing carries the facts a buyer needs: title, description, breed, classification, sex, date of birth, location, and a starting bid. The listing form asks for them, and a listing without them does not publish.
Describe only the animal being sold, and describe it as it is. State its condition, and disclose known defects, vices, and health issues. A flaw disclosed in the listing is a detail; a flaw discovered at pickup is a dispute.
If you do not know something, leave it out. Never guess, and never present a hope as a fact. An unknown registration status stated as "registered" is a misrepresentation, not an optimism.
Tools on the Platform may help you draft a description or evaluate your photos. They assist; they do not take over. The listing is yours, its accuracy is your responsibility even where a tool helped, and our automated review screens listings against these standards without verifying any fact in them.
2. Photos show this animal
A listing carries 3 to 20 photos. They are your own, they are current, and every one of them shows the animal being sold. Stock photos, another animal, or another season are not allowed.
Show the animal clearly: full side views, head, feet and legs, udder or testicles where relevant to the classification, and any identifying marks or tags. Show the flaws too. Sellers who photograph honestly do better at auction than sellers whose buyers find surprises.
3. Papers, and the claims you make
Registration numbers, certificates, health papers, and test results are shown to buyers exactly as you supply them. HoofnHorn displays them; it does not verify them, and buyers are told so.
A representation is a commitment. If you state that an animal is registered, bred, open, tested, or eligible for a program, you must be able to stand that statement up to the buyer. The required terms of every sale include completing the registration transfer your breed registry requires.
4. What may never appear in a listing
Contact information of any kind, or anything that moves the sale off the Platform: phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, social handles, or website links. Our screening blocks these, and working around it is a violation.
Keywords, breeds, or programs that do not describe this animal; comparisons to other listings; and third-party badges or statements vouching for you as a seller. The only trust marks on HoofnHorn are the ones HoofnHorn applies.
Claims you cannot stand up, prices designed to mislead, and copied descriptions.
5. The terms you may add, and where they go
Sellers set the terms the Platform provides fields for: the states you will not sell into, a reserve price, and, when it ships, an extension of the 30-day pickup window. Terms belong in those fields, where buyers see them as structured facts. A term buried in a description paragraph binds nobody.
You may not add terms that conflict with the required terms of every sale, the fee structure, or the Terms of Service; disclaimers of the "not my responsibility once it leaves my farm" kind; or any term after bidding has opened. A published listing's terms are frozen, and that is enforced by the Platform itself.
6. One animal, one listing, one honest auction
One live listing per animal. Do not bid on your own listing or arrange for anyone to bid on it for you.
While your auction is live, the animal is sold here or not at all: do not sell or list it elsewhere until the auction ends without a sale.
7. Which animals may be listed
HoofnHorn lists livestock in the species the Platform supports: cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and donkeys. Animals whose sale or movement is restricted where they stand, including quarantine or regulatory holds, may not be listed. You are responsible for complying with the health, brand, and movement laws that apply to your animal and your state.
8. When a listing falls short
Listings are reviewed before they publish, and a listing that misses these standards is returned to you with the reasons, or declined. A published listing that turns out to violate them can be removed at any time.
Violations are recorded on the account, and repeated or serious ones lead to restrictions or suspension under the Terms of Service. A seller who fails to complete a sale is covered by the Terms directly.
Questions about these standards, or about whether an animal can be listed, go to support@hoofnhorn.com. Related: the fee schedule and how bidding works.